Amid the call by Obidients that presidential aspirants in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) should step down for Peter Obi, the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed the notion, saying no aspirant will withdraw for another in the coalition. Atikus position was made known in a statement issued by his media aide, Paul Ibe, on Tuesday, January 6. Ibe issued the statement following recent comments by Obis allies, including Prof Pat Utomi and Aisha Yesufu, who have rejected the idea of Obi emerging as a Vice Presidential candidate in the coalition. Rejecting any suggestion that he should step aside, Atiku described such calls as dangerous to Nigerias democracy. Any callovert or covertfor Atiku to step aside is a gift to authoritarian ambition and a betrayal of the Nigerian people, the statement said. The former vice president also accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of shrinking democratic space and deliberately weakening opposition parties in a bid to impose what he described as a creeping, de facto one-party state. For nearly three years, Nigerians have endured one of the harshest periods in recent historyan era defined by punishing economic policies and shrinking democratic space, the statement read, adding that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had sought to eliminate political alternatives through systematic pressure on opposition forces. .
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